Secret Passages
by FantasyReverie
Summary: Selphie and Squall end up getting together, but how does their journey treat them on their way to discover these feelings?
1. Zelda Equals Detention

Chapter One: Zelda Equals Detention  
  
"Get off! ....GET OFF!" A high-pitched voice rang through the dormitory hallway, it's owner consumed inside one of the rooms. "You dumb thing! Get off now! I'm warning you!" A faint sound of upbeat music played in the background as Selphie Tilmitt played a video game. It was one of those silly role playing games she had been suckered into buying while in Balamb City with Zell and Quistis.  
  
Her character was slowly dying. Actually, it was on the brink of death, since a monster was currently attached to it's head, sucking the life out of him. Selphie's right hand gripped the controller as her left hand hovered over the buttons, letting her fingers hit them rapidly. All in one instant, she stopped, dropping the controller to the floor. As the upbeat music turned into a depressing piano theme, the screen turned black and, in white lettering, the words 'Game Over' appeared on the screen.  
  
"No... I... I- NOOOOOOOO!" Selphie rolled herself into a ball and began rolling all over the floor. "NO! Stop it!"  
  
"Yessssssss! Oh yeah, baby! Whoo-hoo! Keep it goin'!" Zell Dincht jumped up from his seat on the floor and screamed at the top of his lungs as well.  
  
"NO! Stop it! I don't want to li-" Selphie was cut off as soon as she rolled into Zell's legs, sending him toward the floor. This, of course, was the result og Seifer Almasy stepping into the room. Zell had stopped to acknowledge his presence, only to be toppled over by Steamroller Selphie.  
  
"Whoa!" Zell stretched when he tried to grab hold of a nearby dresser in order to catch himself, but his plan failed and he found himself hovering over Selphie's petite body. Had he not stretched out his arms, he would have fallen right on top of her and squished the life out of the poor girl.  
  
Selphie couldn't help but look into Zell's, now oh-so-intense, blue eyes. *How cute he is when he-* She shook her head, throwing the thought aside.  
  
"Selph, are ya okay?" Zell hardly finished his words before Selphie began screaming again.  
  
"Get off me! Ugh!" She stretched out her arms so quickly, and with all her strength, pushed Zell off of her, letting him hit his head on her dresser that could have prevented the entire incident. Seifer only laughed at the scene as it took place.  
  
"Oh man! That hurt, Selphie!" The martial artist sat up and rubbed the back of his head. Seifer merely sneered at him as he walked over to Selphie to help her up. He was helping her up? Of course! He isn't as mean and inconsiderate as most of you weird people may think. He's kind at heart and sweet and- forget that, he's just helping her up just because.   
  
"Chicken, you should stop acting like a little boy and grow up." He paused as Selphie took his hand and stood to her feet. He crossed his arms, having no use of them anymore, before he continued. "But I see you've most likely done that by now.. And Selphie must have helped you out." He spoke as if implying something.  
  
"What?" Zell and Selphie spoke the word in a synchronized manner as Zell stood and Selphie propped her hands on her hips.  
  
"Nothing. I was just passing by your room Selphie, and couldn't help but hear your screams as well as Zells." Seifer snickered and continued, "If it wasn't so early in the morning, I would normally give the two of you detention for three days, in violation of Garden Code, Article 4, line 17. This rule simply states that no one, most importantly no one of the opposite sex, is allowed in someone else's dorm room between a specific time; after curfew and before seven A.M." Seifer wasn't finished, but he chose to stop and wait for a reply, if he were to have one.  
  
"I'm not stupid, Messenger Girl." Seifer wen on anyway, realizing they might protest before he could finish. "You two have been in here together all night and stayed up playing video games while pigging out on junk food." The knight saw nothing wrong with it, ut was a pretty good way to get a girl like Selphie into the bed, but he just felt like being a jackass sometimes and this was too perfect to pass up.  
  
"Seifer Almasy." A somewhat annoyed voice called out the name as they stood outside the hallway. The three inside the room turned to look out into the hallway, only to find their commander standing there.  
  
"We took you off the Disciplinary Committee. There is nothing you can do about these two staying up all night, in whoevers dorm, just to play a video game. Beside that matter, you have your code-book wrong. The code you mentioned isn't even in there!" Squall shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. "Now leave them to me, you have classes to attend."  
  
Squall Leonhart finally had the upper hand on Seifer, since he was Commander of Balamb Garden and all. Oh how that blonde-headed bully hated it. Seifer shot a glare at Squall as he left the room and headed down the hallway.  
  
"Thank you, Squall." Selphie spoke cheerfully and Squall nodded.  
  
"Yeah man, thanks." Zell spoke his gratitude, but Squall merely shrugged before speaking once more.  
  
"Just because I said *he* couldn't do anything about it, doesn't mean I can't. The both of you have detention with the Disciplinary Committee for three days. I'll let them know and the two of you will report to them today for two hours of doing whatever they find reasonable for your actions. You will do so tomorrow and the day after." Squall normally wouldn't care, since they are his comrades, but since Seifer had seen them, he couldn't stand there and do nothing. Plus, they were SeeDs and needed to act accordingly to set a good example for the other occupants of Garden.  
  
Selphie and Zell only stood in awe at Squall's statement. However, the both understood what he was saying and knew that his say so in anything, always went first. That was always a good thing about being Commander. They nodded toward their leader and kept their heads down in shame.  
  
"Alright then. Selphie, I'm going up to the bridge to talk to Cid right now, but if you are planning on going to Trabia next month, I better see some paperwork in my hands by the end of the week. That gives you four days. Zell, it's your job to monitor the halls today. Since you don't have any classes to teach today, I'm sure it wouldn't be too much on you, right?" Squall paused, but only for a moment, not letting Zell answer.  
  
"Good. If you find anyone misbehaving, you know what to do. I'll catch up with the both of you later." He turned on his heel to walk out of the room, but stopped and looked back at Selphie as if remembering something.  
  
"You still need to give me a report on that last mission of yours. I'll expect it by the end of the day." With that, Squall walked out of the room and off down the hall.  
  
~*~  
"You dumb, retarded, chocobo-head, tattoo face, indolent loser!" Selphie's voice could be heard throughout the Quad, as she and Zell were arguing about the event that had taken place earlier that day.  
  
"If it wasn't for you and your incompetent self, I wouldn't be in this mess! I had the perfect record. Nothing bad on it! And just because I took up a challenge to see who could beat that silly video game in less than a day, I get THREE days of detention! THREE DAYS!" Selphie, as outraged as she was, picked up a paint brush she had, ironically, been using to pain the 'peace' symbol with, and chunked it across the way at Zell, who had been sitting on a bench, drawing on a piece of paper. The brush hit him on the chest, as he didn't have the time to dodge or block the oncoming paint brush of doom, and landed on his drawing. Sky blue paint was smeared across his black shirt as he looked down and picked the brush off his clipboard.  
  
"You.... Stupid idiot! Look what ya did!" Zell tossed the brush back at her, not really caring if it hit her or not. Thankfully, it didn't. "The flyer design you asked me to draw is ruined now! If you think I'm gonna do it over, you've gotta 'nother thing comin'! I have more important things to do, ya nitwit." Names. There were always so many names one could call someone.  
  
Zell let his foot, which had been propped up on his knee, drop to the ground before standing and crossing his arms over his chest. He began walking.  
  
"Where are you going? And I'm NOT a nitwit!" Selphie shrieked back at her male companion.  
  
"Detention. It's almost time to go. ...And yes, you are. Now stop working on that poster or you''ll be late. They don't let late people into the room, they write you down for skipping. Skipping can get you into-" Zell was cut off when a paint brush, thankfully it hadn't been used yet, hit him on the side of his face.  
  
"I know! I know!" Selphie giggled as Zell was totally pissed by now. She was only playing around.   
"Just go on. I'll be there, don't worry. I still have a little over thirty minutes... and this won't take long."  
  
"Pft... whatever." Zell dropped his clipboard onto a nearby bench and walked out of the Quad. Selphie only shook he head and continued to paint the extremely large peace sign on the very large poster. *This years Garden Festival is going to be so much fun!* Selphie thought as she went on painting. *I hope some of the other students will join the committee. We really need people at the gaming booths.*  
  
~*~*~  
  
Zell sat by himself inside Quistis Trepe's classroom, hardly tolerating the noise coming from all of the 'trouble makers' in Balamb Garden. There were so many students with detentions today, that the Disciplinary Committee had asked Quistis if they could use her classroom. Of course, all of the classrooms were the same size, but Fuujin and Raijin only like to speak with Quistis. Only because she was the 'down to earth' Instructor in Balamb Garden who would give them the time of day, much less think about doing to. Anyhow, Quistis allowed them permission to use her classroom, and so we find ourselves watching Zell Dincht, who seems to be captivated by his watch.  
  
"Man... it's 5:56... Selphie is supposed to be here right NOW. This things starts at six... Frickin' hell! What is she doing?!" Zell slammed his fist down onto his seat. Of course, he was placed in the middle of the room, drawing everyone's attention as the blow shook the classroom. He slid down in his seat, trying not to be noticed.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Squall, as always, decided to work a little while later today. He and Cid have been going over the Field Exam for the SeeD candidates. Nothing has really come up lately. The most the could do was either act as bodyguards to people in 'high places,' or help small towns fight off unwanted monsters. Sometimes, there would be an uprise of rebels who wanted to take over the world, or something totally ridiculous like that, but nothing important. Cid had left a little while ago, letting Squall do as he wished with the plans.  
  
Looking up at the clock on the wall, Squall noticed it was going on six o'clock. Soon enough, he piled a ton of papers into a folder and took it with him as he walked into the elevator that could take him to the MD level, or the first and second floors. His destination? Quistis' classroom. He had hopes that she would still be in there, even at this hour. Squall needed to talk someone into training a few of the SeeD candidates by taking them to the Fire Cavern. Quistis had done it several times before, and yeah it was extra, but he had to pull some strings. If worse came to worse, he might even beg the instructor to do this special assignment.  
  
*Even though it will take a while, with them going in one at a time, she should be able to handle it. She's tough.* Squall thought to himself as the elevator opened its metallic doors, revealing a desolate hallway.  
  
Stepping out onto the smooth floor, Squall began to wonder where all the students were. The hallways were always full of students who were always putting a new meaning to 'hustle and bustle.' Then again, they might all be grabbing a bite to eat for dinner in the Cafeteria... like they always do around this time of the day.  
  
Upon reaching the end of the hallway, Squall turned in the direction of Quistis' classroom. Again, the hallway before him was desolate, and no one could be found. Walking toward the door of the fellow instructor's classroom, a few papers slipped out of his folder and dropped on the floor. He stopped to pick them up.   
  
After retrieving the runaway paperwork, Squall stood and walked to the classroom door. As soon as it opened, he walked inside to find Fuujin and Raijin arguing over what they would have the disobedient students do, as punishment for what they have done.  
  
"SANITATION!" Fuujin's voice always seemed to be loud, as if she were using a loudspeaker to amplify it.  
  
"No, they've been cleanin' the Garden, ya know!? It's totally spotless by now, ya know!?" Raijin was wanting them to do something other than clean. He was tried of watching them stand around with trash bags all day, picking up hot-dog wrappers that mysteriously appeared out of no where. "They should... Collect bugs or something, ya know? No more trash, ya know!?"  
  
"Ahem..." Squall attempted to get their attention, but failed as Fuujin stretched out a leg of hers and swiftly kicked Raijin for *his* disobedience. "The both of you! Listen up!" Squall yelled at the two and they both turned to him, saluting at once.  
  
"Thank you.. Where is Instructor Trepe?" Squall, of course, had to be formal in front of the disruptive juveniles. He didn't really wonder why they were meeting in this classroom, but that wasn't his concern. "Has she left her duties early today?"  
  
"She said she was done for the day, ya know? Went to get some food, ya know?" That's Raijin.. ya know? *That gets so annoying*, Squall made a common mental note. *Oh well.*  
  
"Thank you." Squall nodded and left the classroom, having no business with the two. Walking away from the closed door, he heard something slam against the other side of the hallway wall. A second later, he heard the sound of laughter, causing himself to smile and shake his head at whatever event had just taken place within the classroom. He had a good idea of what had happened. *Fuujin can be so hateful at ti-*  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Squall's thoughts were cut short as he turned the corner, headed toward the elevator. He dropped the folder, but managed to stay on his feet after a little stumble. Looking down to see what clumsy person has run into him this time, he saw Selphie. As always, it was her who hit him at this corner. *She needs to pay more attention... Or does she only do this to me? Teasing me all the time...*  
  
"Whaah! That hurt!" Selphie was sitting down on the cold tile floor, rubbing her forehead and looking down at the same time. *This is... like Déjà vu...* Squall shook his head, pushing the thought away, and put both of his hands on his hips. "Are you okay, Selphie?"  
  
She froze. Big trouble. What was she to do? She had spent so much time painting that poster that she totally forgot about detention. And here she was, running into the guy who ordered her to attend it. Even after Zell had practically bugged her for two whole hours, she forgot. *...Oh well.* She thought to herself. *..And why didn't they let us know ahead of time, that students with detention were to report to Quistis' room today!?* She winced as she stood and looked up at Squall, not even noting the papers sprawled out on the floor.  
  
"Oh yeah. Sure, I'm fine." She pulled her hands behind her back and looked away from Squall, her face suddenly flushed with embarrassment. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to run into you."  
He shook his head and kneeled down to gather the papers from the floor. Selphie glanced down to see what he was doing before kneeling down herself and frantically trying to help him collect the papers.  
  
"Oh, Squall... I'm so sorry." She had collected a few papers in one of her hands and continued to gather more, not looking at anything but the ground. "I was working so much on the posters for the Garden Festival and I forgot all about det-" She stopped. Squall had placed his hand on top of hers, almost as quickly as she had placed her own on top of a piece of paper. Selphie looked up from the contact and her eyes met with his. Those blue-grey eyes, that gave a whole new meaning to the words; sternness and seriousness starred back at the emerald orbs, filled abundantly with cheerful thoughts and excitement. ..He seemed to lean forward, closing the distance between them.  
  
*My heart's pounding...What is this I'm feeling?* 


	2. The Lift Surpirse

*What in the world am I doing?* Squall thought to himself as he accidentally has placed his hand on top of Selphie's. *Hyne! Tell me what to do.. No, don't count on anyone but yourself. ...Her eyes... But... What the HELL are you doing, Squall?! Pull yourself together before you lock lips with this... this... clumsy girl.*  
  
"You're late." He spoke and turned his head away from her face. He covered up his actions quite well. Picking up Selphie's hand and removing it from the paper, he retrieved the rest of his lost work and stood. Selphie, consumed by her confusing wonder, stood as well and held the few sheets she had collected out toward him.   
  
"I know. I'm sorry. I tried to get there, but they changed the meeting area. It wasn't until a few minutes ago that I was informed about the detention being held in Quistis' classroom! And..." Selphie stopped. Squall had only raised a brow at the spunky little girl in front of him. She seemed to talk really fast at times... but never faster than the speed of light. *Is that even possible? To speak faster than the speed of light? No, of course not.* Squall mused to himself, containing his laughter and hiding it well.  
  
"What?" Selphie asked. "Why are you smiling?!" Selphie stomped a foot to the ground. Squall *was* smiling. He couldn't hide his laughter that well, apparently. *Eh? I am smiling!* Squall's thought and Selphie's instant action made the smile fade quickly, as if it had never happened to begin with.  
  
"Nothing. And I wasn't smiling. You were seeing things." Squall shook his head, as if to emphasize his response. "You might have stood up too quickly. Anyway, continue with your explanation about being late." Waving away the smile topic he motioned for her to continue.   
  
"That's all I have to say. I was working with the posters. Thought I could work on it until the five minutes before I had to go down to the Cafeteria to meet with the detention thing, but no one was there for it. Then Quistis told me about the meeting being held in her classroom and I freaked out and ran to the elevator, but some IDIOT was using it to get from the third floor to this floor and they were taking forever so I had to wait until they were done. When the elevator got to the first floor and I got inside, it was going MEGA-SLOW and it took me forever to get up here!" Selphie huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, looking to her right, away from Squall. She wasn't really angry, but this detention was already enough damage to her perfect record and now that she was late! Geez, it was just a bad day all together. She had high hopes that it wouldn't end bad, but apparently, it was going to.  
  
*That idiot was probably me.* Again, Squall mused. Only this time, he made sure she could not see a smile, if ever there were to be one, and raised his hand to the crown of his nose and rubbed it, as if he had been annoyed.  
  
"Come with me. Seeing as you're late, your punishment would be tenfold the amount of work they give you in Detention." Squall piled the papers she had handed him into his folder and began walking toward the elevator. Selphie looked up and followed him. "It really isn't any better than picking up trash... Spending time with the Commander instead of with the other delinquents, I mean. Only difference is, you don't get messy." They reached the elevator and Squall hit the 'down' button on the panel before turning to look at Selphie. He wasn't one to try and cheer someone up, but Selphie was practically the life of their group and seeing her down, everyone tried their hardest to cheer her up, even Squall. Flashing a smile, he had hoped she would at least giggle or return a familiar happy expression, but she didn't even notice, and the smile was gone almost as soon as it came.  
  
"Yeah." She didn't know what to say, if anything, to Squall. She was in trouble, and she didn't want to make it worse. Feeling a pat on her arm, Selphie looked up from the floor to see Squall *trying* to put on another smile, since the first was a failure. She laughed softly, and he let out a short chuckle, just as the elevator reached their floor, and the metallic doors opened to invite them inside.   
  
Yes, the elevator doors once were glass, but Zell had an accident one day, not too long ago, with his T-Board and ran right into the doors, thinking they were open. The glass had broken and Cid had decided it a hazard and ordered the new elevator to be metal instead. Although, the group, to this day, still insist that the new elevator doors were changed to metal so that Zell could actually *see* that they were closed.   
  
Squall put out his left hand, holding the elevator doors open, and motioned for Selphie to enter with the other. Selphie stepped inside and Squall followed behind her, turned to the panel of buttons inside and pressed the small button with the number one on it. The doors closed and the elevator slowly descended toward the first floor. Squall turned to look at Selphie, since it was unusually quiet. He liked the quiet. It always brought him great happiness, but he had gotten used to seeing Selphie ramble on and on about useless things. Thoughts turned in his head on whether he should start up a conversation with her or not, to see if it would cheer her up. She wasn't in trouble with him, even if he was the one who gave her detention. He couldn't necessarily let her 'off the hook' because of Seifer. Plus, it wouldn't be fair to Zell. If she was with Squall... it would be like being in detention, wouldn't it?   
  
Selphie looked up from the floor, having the feeling of being watched, and looked over at Squall. Oddly enough, he was looking at her, with intense eyes that would normally scare the daylights out of a passerby, or anyone for that matter. Squall realized he was still looking at her and blinked before turning away. He was too busy thinking to turn away in the first place, but now he found sudden interest in the panel by the elevator doors. He decided to start up a conversation anyway.  
  
"So, any new recruits into the infamous Garden Festival Committee?" He asked, and turned to look at her once more, only to meet his normal blank expression with a harsh glare.  
  
"Don't call it that. Anyway, it's just me and Zell now. Since you sent Irvine back to Galbadia Garden and all." The glare vanished as soon as she turned away. She thought of Irvine and how much she missed him. He was so much help to the Garden Festival. Since he was practically her best friend, he could come eye to eye with everything she wanted done. She didn't see why he couldn't just stay in Balamb Garden. Yeah, he was constantly taking girls to his dorm at night, but... Ah, she still didn't see what was wrong with that. They were only there to watch movies. ...Or so Selphie was convinced. Selphie sighed at the thought of her lifelong friend, now so far away, and sighed. This reaction caused Squall to try again with cheering her up.  
  
"It must be really hard if only two people are working on the Festival, right? You must spend a lot of time on it." His last statement seemed to be more like a question. His eyes were still fixed on her face, even if it was turned away and looking at the floor. His arms were folded in front of them, his right hand still holding on to the folder containing the rather important papers he needed to deliver to Quistis. Following the direction in which her eyes were looking, Squall turned his head to find what amazing entertainment the floor was offering her.  
  
"Well, yeah. It takes up all of my afternoon. I have a couple of classes in the mornings and when I am finished with those, I go right to the Quad. By that time, it's usually 2:30 in the afternoon. With the date I decided to have it all ready coming up in two weeks, I need as much time as I can get. BUT!!!! Now with those dumb detentions, I've been set back and my plans are totally screwed up. I scheduled everything out just right. I had just enough time to get everything ready, but now... I'm going to have to throw out a few things." Again, like the speed of light. The entire time Selphie was speaking, she failed her arms around like there was no tomorrow, which made Squall move a little closer to the wall so that he wouldn't be hit by the mad girl standing beside him.   
  
"AND WHY ISN'T THIS THING MOVING ANY FASTER?!" Selphie had taken action, on behalf of the slow moving elevator, and stomped on the floor, still flailing her arms around. Yet, no sooner had she spoke the words, the elevator plummeted to the MD level, or so it seemed. This, in turn, startled the spunky girl. Upon the hit, she fell back and Squall grabbed a hold of her before the two fell to the floor, both wide-eyed and shocked by what had just happened. Papers, from Squalls folder, floated all around them as the sat on the elevator floor.   
  
"Selphie... You *can* let go of my arm now." Squall said, wincing a little as her grip was so very tight. Yeah, she had freaked out and miraculously gained a lot of strength. Who wouldn't? You would if you were falling ninety to nothing in such a small compartment!  
  
"Well, you *can* loosen your grip around my waist, Squall!" Before she could even finish, he let her loose, and in return, she released the death grip on his arm. Selphie slumped forward, looking at both Squall's legs and her own, not caring for the papers that were all over the place. Squall leaned his back against the wall behind him and watched as Selphie sat in front of him. He didn't seem to care for the papers either. He was oh-so grateful that she hadn't fallen on his precious area. Just the thought of that pain made his stomach turn. Yet, pushing that unhappy thought aside, *he* could tease *her* for once. Would he?  
  
Of course.  
  
"See what you did?" Squall would have grinned, but only if Selphie had not turned around to face him with another scary glare of hers. Squall lifted his eye brows, wondering what had gotten into the spunky girl. He quickly pulled his legs to his chest, not to sure if he felt comfortable with their current position. Selphie looked as if Diablos himself had taken her over. "Selphie, I was only kidding." He thought that if he told her that, she would calm down... but it didn't.  
  
"Oh yeah right, we both know that whenever someone says they are kidding, it's usually half true. Even that weird train lady in Timber said that! Remember?! So just.. hush!" Selphie slammed her fist down on the elevator floor next to Squall's feet, which were now right in front of him. Wide-eyed and a little startled, he looked down at her fist and back up to her face. *Is she crazy?! She's so close to hitting me where guys don't like to be hit and.. wait. She's teasing me again. Hyne! I hate it when she picks on me, it gets annoying after a while.* With that thought, Squall turned his head away from her, trying his best to ignore her now.  
  
"Whatever..." He spoke, not really caring what threat she might do next. He was a SeeD too, he could handle it. A second later, he felt her presence move away from him, and his tense body relaxed. His eyes were closed and had been since he first looked away from her. He could hear the scratchy sounds of papers and decided it wouldn't hurt to see what she was doing. He turned his head to see Selphie sitting with her back facing him, collecting papers. Her knees were bent, so that she was sitting on her legs and he feet were somewhat behind her. Squall looked at those ugly brown boots of hers that she always seem to wear with everything.   
  
Deciding it wasn't really her place to be collecting *his* papers, Squall placed his hands on the floor beneath him and pushed his weight forward to settle on one knee, while the other leg was bent close to his chest, and picked up a few of the papers too. He managed to get a hold of the folder and stuffed the few bit of papers he had collected inside. When he was finished clearing 'his side' of the elevator, he turned his head to look at Selphie. She sat there, facing him, the rest of the papers neatly placed together in her hand. Squall reached out for them, but Selphie pulled the papers to the side and reached out and pushed him, causing him to topple over and hit his head on the elevator wall.  
  
"Ow! Hyne Selphie! Do you think you could be any more rough?!" Squall looked at the odd girl while rubbing the back of his head and sitting up to lean his back against the elevator wall. Luckily, he had a tough grip on the folder and none of the papers flew out. While leaning his back against the wall, Squall stretched out on leg and propped the other up, much like he did in the Infirmary on that fateful day he received the scar on the crown on his nose. He looked at Selphie with one eye halfway closed and the other opened enough for her to see the blue-grey coloring. She only sat there, in shock he supposed. Removing his hand from the back of his head, he leaned his head back against the elevator wall as well, still looking at her and waiting for an explanation on her sudden outburst.   
  
"Sorry... I didn't think you would hit your head. You're not hurt are you?" Selphie crawled over to Squall and sat down next to him, her back leaning against the same elevator wall as his. She handed him the papers she had collected and lowered her head. Squall only watched her as she crawled over to him, trying his hardest not to look down the front of her yellow jumper. It wasn't something he would normally do, *especially* to Selphie, but Irvine's influence had gotten to him, even if he was only with them for less than half a year.   
  
"No. I'm fine." He replied coldly and took the papers from her, placing them in the folder with the rest of them. Before looking at Selphie, he placed the folder on the floor at his other side. She looked kind of depressed now, something that was different and very unusual when it came to her. She had always been bouncing off the walls and doing something completely stupid, or so Squall thought. The fact that she was unhappy was something everyone took seriously, even the Headmaster took it seriously... and yet Squall only sat there, watching her.   
  
Selphie turned to look at Squall, who again, immediately turn away. This made Selphie cringe at heart, since she thought of him as a friend, yet he kept turning away. He never really wanted to have friends, she could tell, but she kept trying just as much as Rinoa kept trying, maybe even more.  
  
"You know... you still haven't answered my question." Although Squall had looked away, Selphie hadn't. She nudged his arm with her elbow a little, trying to get his attention. He didn't turn to face her until she had reached out and pushed him again, yet this time, he caught himself before he actually hit the wall. This, since he didn't get hurt, made Selphie laugh. Then again, as soon as he turned to look at her, she turned away, afraid of the glare she would receive.  
  
"What question?" Squall couldn't really be annoyed with her, since he had put up with this sort of thing since the day they met, but he couldn't help the small amount of annoyance that could be heard in his voice. He sat back up in his previous position and shook his head as he waited for Selphie to answer him. Selphie turned back to look at him and gave him a questionable expression.  
  
"What do you mean, 'what question'? You should know what I am talking about. I ask everyone this question, sometimes people who aren't even students at Garden." Selphie raised a brow at the commander who, in return, did the same. *What is she talking about? Like I could remember anything that happened yesterday.* Squall thought to himself before she continued, since he apparently had no clue what she was talking about. "Would you like to join the Garden Festival Committee?" With that said, Squall let out a sound that was some where around the equivalent of an 'Argggggggh' type of sound and looked away from her.   
  
"Oh come on! I know you have a lot of things to do with being the 'Commander of Balamb Garden' and stuff, but you can still help out. Even if it's only an hour a day! Squall! Hey, are you listening?" Selphie leaned closer to him, since he was slowly easing away from her. Squall had tried his hardest to ignore her, but she just kept talking. He turned to look at her and tell her some lame excuse, but as soon as he did so, their heads slammed into each others.   
  
"Ah! Come on, Squall! You knew I was leaning closer to you!" Selphie leaned back and rubbed her forehead that was now throbbing with pain. Squall didn't seem to mind what little bit of pain he had received. He sat there, blinking every so often, and watched Selphie in her attempts to recover from the contact.   
  
"Are you okay? I didn't think that hurt *that* bad." Squall tilted his head a little before crawling over to Selphie. Her legs were stretched out, so that she wouldn't show her glory to the world, which made it rather hard to get to her without touching them. Squall straddled her, placing a leg on each side of her own and leaning forward to check out her forehead, which Selphie had been rubbing frantically. He wasn't trying to be anything but caring as he took this action, but Selphie couldn't help but tense up at their position. She let her hand drop to her lap and looked up at Squall. Her forehead showed an enormous red bump, as if she had been hit in the head with a baseball bat or a pole, anything but Squall's head, or a head in general.   
  
"Wow. You have a--" Squall stopped to place his hand on her forehead and feel the bump. He chuckled. "I didn't think my head was strong enough to do that, Selphie." He removed his hand from her head and sat down on her legs, still starring at the large bump on her forehead. Selphie looked at him, wondering why he couldn't just sit next to her and stare at it from there. She wanted him off of her, still not feeling at all comfortable with the position. Squall didn't seem to notice though, he was still staring at her forehead. Selphie decided to play as if his weight was hurting her legs, even though it wasn't.   
  
"Ow! Get off! Get off!!" She flailed her arms around until Squall noticed where he was and stood up, taking a step back. He looked down at Selphie and grabbed on of her arms, pulling her to her feet. She looked up at him and even though he wasn't that tall, he was tall to her, since she no taller than five feet. Five feet and one and a half inches if we had to get technical. Squall released his grip on her arm and shook his head back, trying to get some of the loose strands from in front of his eye sight. Selphie looked away and pulled her hand back up to her forehead to rub it some more.   
  
"I'm getting sleepy, Squall." She looked back to see him picking up his folder from the elevator floor. As soon as he stood, Selphie lowered her arm from her forehead and fell into his arms. She was in fact, very dizzy and sleepy. Yet, since she had been hit in the head with a rather large amount of force that gave her such a large bump on her forehead, she was not allowed to fall asleep. She was able to go into a coma state and not wake up for a long while. Squall, realizing this, shook her, trying to keep her awake.   
  
"Selphie! Stay awake. Come on." Squall held on to her and looked around the elevator, since it had been stopped for the past ten minutes. He had hoped it would begin running soon. He needed to get Selphie to Doctor Kadowaki before something bad happened. "Selphie Tilmitt!" His voice was hoarse as he yelled at his comrade and shook her at arms length like mad. "Come on... please don't fall asleep. Selphie.. Selphie!"   
  
Selphie could hear his voice, but it kept sounding as if it were farther and farther away with each word. She tried to speak, but that wonderful slumber had already taken her away. 


End file.
